Development and characterization of mosquito repellent fabric finished with tulsi dye extracts

To insure safety from the insects, it is essential to develop the technology of insect repellent textiles. In this article, the plant of Ocimum sanctum commonly called as “Tulsi” is chosen as the natural insect repellent. From the various extracts employed, aqueous extract is found to provide excellent results with wool fabric in terms of dye exhaustion and color yields. The K/S values of samples dyed with extract obtained by using open heating method are greater than obtained from samples of soxhlet apparatus extracts. Also, the open heated extract at a pH of 3.5 is found to exhibit maximum absorbance. The fastness properties of the samples are found good to be excellent. D65 (10 deg observer) values show that the samples are of reddish and dark in color. Cage test proves their good insect repellent property. Hence these dyed fabrics can be used as tools for prevention of insect-borne diseases.